The 10 budget challenges facing Morrison

1) DEFICITS: For a coalition that boasted in opposition delivering surpluses was in its DNA, they're still a long time coming. A surplus was forecast for 2020/21 in December's mid-year budget review, a timetable economists expect Morrison to stick to. Any slippage can expect a harsh response from international credit rating agencies and be marked down as a failure by voters.

2) DEBT: Like the deficit, the "Labor's debt" label is wearing thin after four years of coalition government. Government debt is expected to be just under $500 billion at the end of this financial year, ballooning to almost $650 billion in 2026/27. Debt was around $320 billion in 2013/14 when the coalition came to power. It remains to be seen whether voters are fooled by a new emphasis on "good" debt (infrastructure investment) and "bad" debt (recurrent spending).

3) HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: Faced with rampant house prices in Sydney and Melbourne, affordability has become a key focus for this year's budget, although the government denies it will be its centrepiece issue. Morrison has promised to deal with housing issues across the spectrum, from renters to first-time buyers, from cheap community housing to older people looking to downsize without penalty. The treasurer admits there is no silver bullet to solving affordability in one budget, but that will be quickly lost in the wave of disappointment should potential buyers see the dream of home ownership slip further away.

4) CONFIDENCE: Confidence will be a crucial gauge of the budget's success. Consumer confidence has been all over the place since the beginning of the year, as the jobless rate ticked towards six per cent, wages growth remained at record lows and as the Reserve Bank issued several warnings about rising household debt and a hot property market. Global institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, are predicting a lower Australian unemployment rate towards five per cent, but seeing is believing.

5) THE ECONOMY: Economic growth is expected to be more sprightly this year in tandem with a more buoyant global economy which has boosted demand for Australia's key commodities. This puts Australia on course to claim the world record for the longest period of uninterrupted economic expansion spanning more than 26 years. A rise in commodity prices will also lift national income, boosting government revenues. But if the housing bubble bursts, it will wreak havoc across the economy.

6) GLOBAL ECONOMY: The clouds of global uncertainty are never far away, with key elections across Europe in coming months including the UK, the continuation of Brexit, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Korea, and the capability of US President Donald Trump getting his agenda past Congress.

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7) RATING AGENCIES: Global credit rating agencies will be scrutinising the budget more than usual. Standard & Poor's has already put Australia's triple-A rating on a negative outlook. Others have expressed concerns over the fractured nature of the Senate and the ability of the government to get much-needed reforms passed. A rating downgrade would hit confidence and impact on the standing of retail banks when raising funds abroad, resulting in higher interest rates at a time of high indebtedness.

8) PARLIAMENT: An ever-expanding Senate crossbench will remain a big challenge for the government. It does not have a majority in the upper house and needs the support of 10 of the 12 crossbench senators, if Labor and the nine Greens vote together to block government legislation.

9) GOVERNMENT: Internal ructions are one of the biggest risks to the budget. Morrison drew criticism from his own back bench last year after announcing changes to tax concessions to superannuation before they were watered down. Likewise, there was a free-for-all among government ministers over whether this budget should allow first homebuyers to tap their superannuation for a home deposit, with everyone seemingly having a view, breaching unity and the usual hush-hush heading into budget time. Former prime minister Tony Abbott is also never too far away in offering his opinion on how the government is performing.

10) POLLS: With the government lagging Labor in opinion polls, the budget will be a test, not only for the treasurer but also the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull. The polls were one factor used by Turnbull to roll Abbott in 2015.